David Laid: Steroids or Natural?

David Laid is a 20 year old American model and bodybuilder, who become internet famous after uploading his transformation onto YouTube.

At the start of the video he was 5 ft 7 and 98lbs, and by the end of the video he was 6 ft 2 and 190lbs.

…And now it makes sense why this video’s got over 26 million views.

David transformed from an anorexic-looking boy into a shredded alpha male in just 3 years, giving hope to ecto’s all over the globe.

Here’s the video (below).

David Laid’s shredded physique has helped him accumulate over 850k followers on Instagram, landing him a sponsorship deal with Gymshark, starring alongside Steven Cao, Steve Cook and Ryan Terry.

David’s not just shredded, he’s also insanely strong.

Here’s some of his lifts (1):

Bench press – 390lbs

Deadlift (sumo) – 635lbs

Pretty boy Laid also was benching 315lbs at just 17 years old. That’s 143kg.

…I think if I were to lift 315lbs at 17 I would’ve snapped in half.

There’s no doubt that David Laid’s one of the prettiest (no homo) and most aesthetic dudes in bodybuilding right now. But is he natural?

Lets have a look at the evidence.

He’s Not Massive

Is it possible to look like David Laid naturally? Yes.

It’s perfectly possible to look like David Laid if you’ve got decent genetics. Even if you’ve got average genetics, if you work your butt off in and out of the gym for several years you can look this good.

But it’ll require a lot of consistency and dedication.

David’s not got a tonne of muscle mass, but because he’s shredded he looks big.

However, just because it’s possible to look like Laid naturally, doesn’t mean he is natural.

David Laid Denies Taking Steroids

He previously wrote “3 year natural transformation” on his viral YouTube video, thus claiming to be natty.

And in the video below he speaks directly on the topic of steroids.

A fan asks David “Do you think you’d ever consider using steroids?”.

He replies “For me it ended up not being worth it at any point really”.

It’s interesting how David buys almost 30 seconds before actually answering the question directly, and even when he does, he isn’t very decisive. He adds “really” onto the end of his sentence, which lacks conviction.

It’s also worth noting how David licks his lips twice in this video.

When a person licks their lips, it’s usually a sign of someone lying because adrenaline levels spike when someone tells a lie, causing your lips to get dry. As a result, a person is prone to licking their lips when being deceptive. We also saw this with John Cena in his TV interview, when questioned about taking steroids.

Coincidentally, the two times David licks his lips in this video are at the start and end of him denying taking steroids (30 seconds and 35 seconds).

It’s also interesting how David repeatedly says you’re “not a bad person” if you take steroids, almost like he’s trying to defend it from a moral point of view. This could indicate a guilty conscience and is somewhat defensive for someone that’s natural.

He also defends steroids in response to people that say “they’re so bad”, by stating “they’re not good or bad”.

Pretty much everyone knows that steroids are harmful to the body (including many guys juicing themselves). You could debate whether they’re dangerous or not, but nearly everyone knows they’re not good for you; hence how they give you negative side effects and are illegal (in most countries).

David condemns 2 types of steroid-users:

Those that claim to be natty (when they’re not), then try and sell their products.

Those that compete in drug-tested organisations

Interestingly, David doesn’t fall into either of these categories, because:

However, more evidence is needed if we’re to conclude that David Laid is juicing.

Half Natty

Despite denying taking steroids, and many calling him out for being on the sauce, David was seen wearing a ‘Half Natty’ hoodie to the Arnold Classic expo.

For those unaware, people interpret half natty to mean 2 different things.

Either, they were taking steroids before and now they’re natural.

Or they’re taking low doses of steroids.

Either way it means a person isn’t 100% natural, thus anyone who is natty surely wouldn’t be wearing clothes which indicated they’ve taken steroids.

Matt Ogus is the founder of the Half Natty clothing brand. I analysed Matt several months ago and am very confident in my verdict that he’s taken steroids. Matt also had a very similar transformation to David’s, going from extremely skinny to shredded.

Steroid Symptoms

David Laid doesn’t have any obvious steroid symptoms when you look at his body.

No pregnant midsection, no gyno, no bloating.

However, just because someone doesn’t have classic steroid symptoms, doesn’t mean they’re natural. We’ve analysed guys in the past who have natural-looking physiques, but are almost certainly on steroids.

However, one thing that does stand out on David’s body is his muscle fullness.

There are some pictures of David in and out of the gym where he looks much bigger compared to previous pictures. His muscles look much fuller compared to normal, indicating that he could be in the middle of a cycle.

The most reliable way to detect a steroid-user is by their gains timeline.

The key here is to gather several photos of the person, after they first started lifting weights and what they look like now.

See when a guy first starts lifting weights he’ll blow up and gain roughly 20lbs. These are standard ‘newbie gains’. However, after this point gains become very slow and steady. So, if a person blows up again and continues growing beyond this initial 20lbs – it’s a sign he’s on the gas.

Lets have a look at David’s progress over the years.

Here’s a picture of David before (14) and now (20).

You can that David’s not gained a measly 20lbs of muscle from hitting the weights.

He’s gained roughly 70lbs of muscle.

This would make sense as steroids can add 50lbs of muscle to your frame, and if you combine this with 20lbs of newbie gains – you’ve got your 70lbs.

Verdict

Based on the evidence David Laid could well have taken steroids.

His gains timeline is typical of a steroid-user.

He’s very defensive in the video where he talks about steroids, saying you’re not a bad person if you take steroids and that they’re not bad for you.

Plus he’s been seen wearing “half natty” clothing, which is spelling it out that you’re not 100% natty.

Steroids David’s Likely to be Taking?

I believe David’s taken any/all of the following:

Dianabol

Testosterone

Deca Durabolin

Recommended

David’s gained a tonne of muscle, so he’d need to take the best muscle-building steroids in order to do this. These would be dianabol and testosterone.

He wouldn’t have taken a compound like anadrol because he’s not bloated or retaining water. He also wouldn’t have taken trenbolone because he’s not insanely dry and his traps aren’t huge.

I believe he could’ve taken deca durabolin as well, because there’s several photos where David looks extremely big and full (by his own standards). When cycling deca durabolin, it gives you another dimension of muscle fullness that no other steroid can match. How you look when you’re pumped in the gym, is how you’ll look cold/out of the gym when taking deca.

Erny Peibst is a bodybuilder with 6 years experience reading and writing about anabolic steroids. Erny has spent over 2,000 hours studying performance enhancing drugs; analysing countless studies, reading several books and consulting some the world's finest doctors. He uses Fitness on Steroids as a platform to share his expertise.

Disclaimer: The content on this website is written by expert(s) for educational purposes. The intent of this website is NOT to encourage illegal steroid-use, but to improve knowledge regarding AAS.

About Erny Peibst

Erny is an English bodybuilder who accumulated over 300,000 fans on Facebook, after building 50lbs of muscle in just 3 years. Breaking Muscle rated Erny in the top 20 fitness bloggers online, whilst MenProvement and the PTDC regard his articles as the ‘best on the web‘.

Erny’s also been featured in the news, appearing on News.com.au, Daily Star and Daily Mail. Continue reading

This article has been fact-checked and medically reviewed by our certified doctor and nutritionist (Dr Sandra El Hajj). All medical information and statements made in this article can be verified by several credible academic references/sources, cited in this article.